3 Things Your Social Media Manager Needs to Know

If you are a social media manager, you might think you understand your consumers, but those same consumers tell a different story.

According to Marketo’s new report, The State of Engagement, 82% of marketers believe they have a “deep understanding” of their audience. However, 56% of consumers believe brands could improve their approach to engagement, indicating a serious gap between perception and reality.

Social media management is critical for authentic engagement, yet young companies typically misunderstand their relationships with social media experts. The relationship doesn’t end when the agreement is signed. It begins.

Without active participation from their clients, social media companies can’t deliver the engagement results they promise. To get the most from their partners, entrepreneurs must speak up and take a more active role in the management of their social accounts.

The Best Ability Is Availability

The difference between a good social media partner and a bad one lies in the questions they ask. In order to curate a brand’s online presence, competent providers ask meaningful questions about the prospective audience, the tone of voice, and the preferred frequency of posts.

They also ask what level of participation the company envisions. Some companies prefer to write every post, while others only want to be kept in the loop.

Social media experts don’t need clients to schedule daily meetings; all they need is an open line of communication. Without that, partners don’t know whether their posts reflect how the founders’ view the brand. This ignorance can lead to disaster.

Consider some of the most egregious social media mistakes of this year. Most large companies keep their social media management in-house. But several of these disasters — for example, Nivea’s unfortunate “White Is Purity” ad — could have been prevented by a bit more involvement from the higher-ups.

Partner with Your Social Media Manager

Companies that wish to stay off lists of social media blunders should discuss the following topics in depth with their marketing partners.

1. Business Goals

Not every company has the same goal. Some want more clients, some want wider brand recognition, and others want to create stronger partnerships with their vendors. Outline your objectives to give your social media experts something to work toward.

Mr. Clean inspired more than 11,000 social media mentions in a single minute after its ad during the Super Bowl. By scheduling messages on multiple platforms and working toward a goal, the company turned a 30-second TV spot into a social media phenomenon.

And it gave kindly old Mr. Clean a funny, sexy rebrand in the process. With careful planning and cooperation, the same approach can succeed on a smaller scale within SMEs.

2. Multi-Platform Content

Certain rules are true across every social media channel. Create content that works on multiple platforms in order to maximize your marketing ROI.

Hashtags provide excellent opportunities for cross-platform messaging, but the rules vary by platform. HubSpot wrote a detailed guide earlier this year on the best ways to use hashtags on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

To increase the effect, tie a single image to those hashtags across platforms to maximize brand recognition. According to Brain Rules, users remember only 10% of audio content, but 65% when that content is tied to a visual.

3. Values and Beliefs

Every brand has a different set of values. Audiences pay attention to brands when those values resonate with their own. Determine how you want your company to be perceived, and then communicate that desire to your partner. This way, you will avoid sponsoring posts that conflict with your beliefs.

Company values don’t always have to be positive. Cards Against Humanity famously insults the intelligence of its brand loyalists every Black Friday. This year, the company asked for donations to hire an excavator to dig a large hole for no purpose other than to be noticed. Last year, they asked people to send them $5 in exchange for nothing, raking in a total of $71,145.

These consumer brands might play with larger stakes than SMEs, but their strategies work with smaller budgets too. Work with your social media partner to discover a creative, effective approach that feels right for your brand.

Don’t put social media on autopilot. Communicate with your social media manager to establish a tone and goal. Then follow up regularly to ensure your posts are moving you toward that goal.

Keren Lerner is the CEO and founder of Top Left Design, a London based design and marketing agency. Founded in 2002, Top Left Design specialises in bespoke designed websites, brands, and marketing material with integrated marketing advice. Keren regularly speaks about design and digital marketing at seminars and workshops for industry organisations across different industries (property, HR, interior design, travel, food, film, finance, and law). She advises on social strategy and communication and trains businesses and teams on how to effectively market themselves online.

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With millions of potential customers at the tip of your fingers, social media is really something every business must take advantage of. Having a great social media manager will certainly make it easier to access these people and establish your brand. This is a very informative article, thank you for sharing Keren!

Absolutely faced the same issues while I was associated with a brand. We handover our our brand pages to an outside agency assuming they will see the brand exactly the way we see it. It’s totally the failure at brand’s end to communicate the objectives & values to the agency.
Learnt it hard way.

Very basic and effective points are discussed here. Off course every company have its own goal to get success but ultimate goal is one by social media. Anyway very noticeable points are discussed here. Nice to read and I personally appraise this post.

Social media are a great market place for many online business owners, I have earn much from social media ads.
this topic is good about how well a person could manage social media.Alee would love you to read ..Questions You Need To Ask Before Buying iPhone X

Thanks for this detail article, in this new generation, social media play a vital role that can not be left alone on any online presence and customer targeting, and even it play a vital role on search engine ranking also. It is also part of criteria to for a successful business.

Thanks for providing such an useful information.I’ll definitely use your tips . i found new things for learning over the Internet and when I searching I found your blog and I decided to give some time here.

After giving two three days I read many of your blogs and they are really helpful to me.
thanks…please keep posting.

Thanks Keren for your sharing.A manager needs some effective Managment skill which ensures a high productivity.A social media manager must have some sound knowledge about social media marketing which gives a business an utmost outcome.Your views are really impressive to identify the qualities of a social media manager because to find a quality manager is really brainstorming and time taking.Your article is really helpful and it could explore my perceptions on finding a reputed social media manager for my business.Roger would love you to read ..SLIM THE INNOVATION FOR MANAGING YOUR LAB TACTFULLY

Hey Keren,
You have pointed out the most valuable and accurate sentences for social media managers roles. I mostly like the Goal of a business point. You have given a clear view of what a social media manager should look for gain the goal of their business. Also, the example you have given is an ideal one. Thanks for motivating a social media manager like me. Hope that other managers will be helpful if they follow your words.

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